There are many reasons that contributed to Elie Wiesel`s writing his depressing, but true memoir, Night. One of these reasons first originates back to Wiesel`s childhood, around the age of fifteen, when he and his father were separated from their family and sent to Auschwitz. The conditions he witnessed while at the camp are what drive Wiesel into writing books like this. He explains how the gruesome things he went through inspire him to excessively write about them. Wiesel thinks that by reading this book, people will discover how these victims could possibly escape this dreaded memory that lurks in the backs of their minds and haunts them every day of their lives. Wiesel believes that it is impossible for anyone who survived these camps to remain silent about their unpleasant experiences there. What he means by this is basically that people who went through this massacre will never forget what happened to them while they suffered there. His way of broadcasting his background at the camps is writing books that explain what happened to millions of other Jews like himself. Wiesel also believes that by writing about the terrible things that happened, he could make everyone remember what happened. He would not allow them to savor their victory in somehow erasing the event from everyone’s memory. Wiesel`s ambition is to prevent that feeling of success that hides in people like that, and he does so by writing about the affair that changed his life. Those are some of the reasons that convinced Elie Wiesel into writing his narrative on his experience in the Holocaust.
Assignment 2: Holocaust Web Search
Night Web Search
Background Information for the Holocaust
Use the following websites for a quick overview of the following terms and people.
Joseph Goebbels, 1897-1945, was hired as Hitler`s ambassador of propaganda and also served as one of the most important and influential people in all of Germany at that time.
One way the Nazis enforced the spread of Hitler`s ideas to people was by working with the SS and Gestapo and Albert Speer. Another way they got their point across was by establishing the Reich Chamber of Commerce in 1933. This organization dealt with literature, art, music, radio, film, and newspapers to further spread their influence. The last way they persuaded people to believe their ways was by releasing films to the public concentrating on topics such as Hitler`s greatness and power. || || Kristallnacht/ The Final Solution/
Wannsee Conference
|| What is Kristallnacht and what does the word mean? When did it happen? http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/kristallnacht/
Who attended and what was decided at the Wannsee Conference?
Dr. Josef Bühler, Adolf Eichmann, Dr. Ronald Freisler, Reinhard Heydrich, Otto Hofmann, Dr. Gerhard Klopfer, Wilhelm Kritzinger, Dr. Rudolf Lange, Dr. Georg Leibbrandt, Martin Luther, Dr. Alfred Meyer, Heinrich Müller, Erich Neumann, Dr. Eberhard Schöngarth, and Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart all attended the conference.
The final solution is defined in Hitler`s eyes as the genocide of the Jewish race. || || The Victims
|| Besides the Jewish people, list seven other groups were also targets/victims of the Holocaust?
Briefly tell the fate of each group under Nazi rule.
A few of their targets included the following: Gypsies, Disabled people, Poles, Prisoners of war, Afro-Germans, Political dissidents, Jehovah`s Witnesses, and homosexuals.
They felt they needed to eliminate these racial groups through a German society. || || The Ghettos
|| Describe the three types of ghettos, their purpose, and locations.
What was life like in the ghettos? http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007445
||
The three types of ghettos included open ghettos, closed ghettos, and destruction ghettos.
Life in the ghettos was very hard and disturbing. People in ghettos were not sanitary and that easily led to a spread in germs that got many people sick. || || The Camps || There were two kinds of camps: labor camps and death/extermination camps. What is the difference between the two? http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005144
What were the conditions?
What different types of extermination were performed?
There were harsh conditions where prisoners got little food and sleep but worked for countless hours.
One way they would kill the Jews was by forcing them into gas chambers and they would be killed in there. Another way they exterminated the Jews was by shooting them. || || The Liberation & The Nuremberg Trials
|| Who liberated the camps? http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005131
Table of Contents
Meagan M. Night Assignments
Assignment 1: Reasons for Writing
There are many reasons that contributed to Elie Wiesel`s writing his depressing, but true memoir, Night. One of these reasons first originates back to Wiesel`s childhood, around the age of fifteen, when he and his father were separated from their family and sent to Auschwitz. The conditions he witnessed while at the camp are what drive Wiesel into writing books like this. He explains how the gruesome things he went through inspire him to excessively write about them. Wiesel thinks that by reading this book, people will discover how these victims could possibly escape this dreaded memory that lurks in the backs of their minds and haunts them every day of their lives. Wiesel believes that it is impossible for anyone who survived these camps to remain silent about their unpleasant experiences there. What he means by this is basically that people who went through this massacre will never forget what happened to them while they suffered there. His way of broadcasting his background at the camps is writing books that explain what happened to millions of other Jews like himself. Wiesel also believes that by writing about the terrible things that happened, he could make everyone remember what happened. He would not allow them to savor their victory in somehow erasing the event from everyone’s memory. Wiesel`s ambition is to prevent that feeling of success that hides in people like that, and he does so by writing about the affair that changed his life. Those are some of the reasons that convinced Elie Wiesel into writing his narrative on his experience in the Holocaust.
Assignment 2: Holocaust Web Search
Night Web Search
Background Information for the Holocaust
Use the following websites for a quick overview of the following terms and people.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/
==||Topics to Know
||
Questions ||
Answers || ||
Nazi Propaganda
||
Who is Joseph Goebbels?
List three things the Nazis did to ensure that their views were shown/heard in the most persuasive manner possible.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/propaganda_in_nazi_germany.htm
||
Joseph Goebbels, 1897-1945, was hired as Hitler`s ambassador of propaganda and also served as one of the most important and influential people in all of Germany at that time.
One way the Nazis enforced the spread of Hitler`s ideas to people was by working with the SS and Gestapo and Albert Speer. Another way they got their point across was by establishing the Reich Chamber of Commerce in 1933. This organization dealt with literature, art, music, radio, film, and newspapers to further spread their influence. The last way they persuaded people to believe their ways was by releasing films to the public concentrating on topics such as Hitler`s greatness and power. || ||
Kristallnacht/ The Final Solution/
Wannsee Conference
||
What is Kristallnacht and what does the word mean? When did it happen?
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/kristallnacht/
Who attended and what was decided at the Wannsee Conference?
What was the Final Solution?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005477
||
Kristallnacht was a Nazi program in Germany when the Nazis killed many Jews and destroyed their belongings. It happened on the night of November 9, 1938.
Dr. Josef Bühler, Adolf Eichmann, Dr. Ronald Freisler, Reinhard Heydrich, Otto Hofmann, Dr. Gerhard Klopfer, Wilhelm Kritzinger, Dr. Rudolf Lange, Dr. Georg Leibbrandt, Martin Luther, Dr. Alfred Meyer, Heinrich Müller, Erich Neumann, Dr. Eberhard Schöngarth, and Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart all attended the conference.
The final solution is defined in Hitler`s eyes as the genocide of the Jewish race. || ||
The Victims
||
Besides the Jewish people, list seven other groups were also targets/victims of the Holocaust?
Briefly tell the fate of each group under Nazi rule.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007457
CLUE: Begin reading at “Targeted Groups” ||
A few of their targets included the following: Gypsies, Disabled people, Poles, Prisoners of war, Afro-Germans, Political dissidents, Jehovah`s Witnesses, and homosexuals.
They felt they needed to eliminate these racial groups through a German society. || ||
The Ghettos
||
Describe the three types of ghettos, their purpose, and locations.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005059
What was life like in the ghettos?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007445
||
The three types of ghettos included open ghettos, closed ghettos, and destruction ghettos.
Life in the ghettos was very hard and disturbing. People in ghettos were not sanitary and that easily led to a spread in germs that got many people sick. || ||
The Camps ||
There were two kinds of camps: labor camps and death/extermination camps. What is the difference between the two?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005144
What were the conditions?
What different types of extermination were performed?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005145
||
Forced labor camps were designed to make their prisoners work hard and miserable. The extermination camps were designed for the murder of their prisoners.
There were harsh conditions where prisoners got little food and sleep but worked for countless hours.
One way they would kill the Jews was by forcing them into gas chambers and they would be killed in there. Another way they exterminated the Jews was by shooting them. || ||
The Liberation & The Nuremberg Trials
||
Who liberated the camps?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005131
What did Hitler do near the end of the war?
How many defendants were charged during the Nuremberg Trials? What did they represent?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007143
What did the International Military Tribunal decide was not a legitimate defense?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007142
||
The Soviets liberated the camps.
Near the end of the war, Hitler, as well as many others, committed suicide.
Twenty four people were charged during the trials. They represented cross-section of German diplomatic, economic, political, and military leadership.
They decided that following orders was not a legitimate defence. ||==
Assignment 3: Images of Night Gas Chambers
Gas ChambersFrightening, gassing, killing
Like death itself, dark as night
An oven of people
Saddening
During this time of doom